I Hate Politics Podcast

Traffic cameras take out discretionary officer involvement and create strong incentives for drivers to follow the rules, but Maryland State Delegate David Moon tells Sunil Dagupta that Montgomery County's school bus camera program, which generates millions in fines, does not make streets safer and talks about what can be done. He was finally able to get data and analyze the top-grossing locations...

As Maryland ends a historic election, choosing Wes Moore as the first black governor of the state and Aruna Miller as the first Indian-American to hold statewide office, Sunil Dasgupta talks with veteran campaign worker Abi Green about the joys and the challenges of campaign work. News analysis of coming one-party rule in Annapolis, the rise of MAGA politics in local politics, and legalizing recre...

Days before the 2022 midterm elections, Sunil Dasgupta talks with UMBC political scientist Ian Anson about his research into our beliefs about political knowledge and its consequences for polarization and democracy. Local news about a new county antisemitism resolution, surprising increases in project costs in capital budget for public schools, and how college financial aid really works. Music fro...

In this episode, Sunil Dasgupta talks with local school board candidates in the upcoming elections, incumbent Karla Silvestre (3:10) about MCPS' teacher and staff recruitment efforts and with former elementary school teacher Valerie Coll (24:26) about the role of the board in active governance of the school system. Look back at Episode #65 for interviews with two other candidates Scott Joftus and...

Despite higher revenue projections, Montgomery County government has curtailed borrowing limits to manage its debt-service burden. With a new capital budget coming soon, Sunil Dasgupta talks with county PTA leader Laura Stewart about spending affordability guidelines, swapping out county support for state funding, and delays in school projects including HVAC upgrades. Music from DC area progresive...

With general elections coming up Nov 8, Sunil Dasgupta interviews three statewide candidates: for the Maryland Attorney General's race, Republican Michael Peroutka (02:30) talks about the state's constitutional crises and Democrat Anthony Brown (24:08) talks about equity in the criminal justice system including the treatment of juveniles. For the Maryland Comptroller's race: Brooke Lierman (43:45)...

Thirty-five people have died on roads in Montgomery County, MD, in 2022; not one related to escooters, but that is the bill the  County Council passed recently. An omnibus road safety bill, which is desperately needed, isn't even an idea despite unanimity on the council that road deaths are the bigger problem. Sunil Dasgupta talks with County Council member Sidney Katz about the justification for...

The fall is not only apple and pumpkin picking season, but also time for Oktoberfests and cool dining choices. Sunil Dasgupta talks with local food maven Michelle Katz, whose Instagram account @pikeandrozay is one of the most influential food and food photography accounts in Montgomery County. She talks about Oktoberfests, Happy Hours, and food trends. Music from Montgomery County musician Eddie B...

Not everything in human life–neighborhoods, schools, businesses–is political, but any issue can become political when we disagree with each other. In this episode, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Silver Spring civic activist and urbanist Dan Reed about the politics of his neighborhood association, and with physician and businessman Joe Zammit-Lucia, who has written a book called The New Political Capita...

Montgomery County set aside roughly a third of its land area as an agricultural reserve to protect it from development and save local farms. Bike rides, apple-picking trips, CSAs, and farmers' markets leave a romantic impression of organic food production in a verdant landscape. In reality, the economics of the ag reserve are surprising and precarious. What a farm owner gets for land is shocking....

Sunil Dasgupta talks with long-time Montgomery County resident Bill Conway, who is putting together a billion-dollar carbon sequestration project in central Louisiana on behalf of the local electric utility, CLECO, which requires significant federal support to be financially viable and serves as a case study in how governments promote new technology using tax credits and tax credit markets and cho...

Providing mental health support to students has been a challenge even before Covid. As the stigma of mental health has lifted, the demand for services has grown often beyond the capacity of school districts and even the mental health profession to provide. Sunil Dasgupta talks with child psychiatrist and Institute of Juvenile Research Director Niranjan Karnik about the history and evolution of you...

As millions of children return for the new school year, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Casey Anderson, chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board, and Eli Glazier, the lead author of a new Pedestrian Master Plan, about walking and biking to school. Only 12 percent of MCPS students walk to school. The rest are driven, ride the bus, or drive themselves. Anderson and Glazier propose improving the situa...

The US District Court in Maryland dismissed a lawsuit against Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) for violating equal protection in magnet admission rules. MCPS has struggled for years to bring in more Black and Latino students to its most prestigious programs, but an Asian-American parent group, backed by the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation, argued that even a facially-neutral lottery s...

With the first count of votes in the July 2022 Democratic Primary in Montgomery County, MD, now available, Sunil Dasgupta talks with veteran journalist Louis Peck about the implications of another razor-thin margin in the county executive race between incumbent Marc Elrich and challenger David Blair. A recount is coming, independent expenditure in local elections is here to stay, and low turnout r...

As a nationwide teacher and staff shortage threatens to disrupt fall school reopening, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Maryland State Education Association president Cheryl Bost about steps to address teacher recruitment and retention in the state and to MCPS instructional specialist Miriam Plotinsky about her new book, "Teach More, Hover Less," which offers a pedagogical approach that could allow teach...

Sunil Dasgupta talks with Nishant Trivedi and Pallav Thakkar, members of a local Indian-American fitness group, about their 184.5 mile bike ride from Cumberland, in Western Maryland, to Washington DC; and to Maryland state house majority leader Eric Luedtke about a new law expanding and revitalizing state parks. Listen to the end for Luedtke's top 10 list. This is a how-to-get-outdoors episode. Mu...

The 2022 Maryland primary elections are over and the state is waiting for results. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Adam Jentleson, a former staffer for Senator Harry Reid, who together with like-minded friends created a PAC that spent close to a million dollars on television ads attacking incumbent Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich's housing record. Whether they succeed or not, the entry of PAC-sp...

With 26 US states set to impose degrees of abortion bans following the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v Wade, Maryland is likely to become the southern-most state on the Eastern seaboard to offer fully legal abortions and the state's providers are expecting women from abortion-banned states to travel to Maryland for services. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Maryland Delegate Ariana Kelly about how the...

Montgomery County, Md, has long had a reputation for being tough for business and compared unfavorably with Northern Virginia. In this episode, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Julie Verrati, co-founder of Denizens Brewing Company in Silver Spring, about the business climate in the county and neighboring jurisdictions. Verrati also served in the federal Small Business Administration during the Biden pres...

As the country deals with the upending of the landmark abortion rights case, Roe v Wade, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Julie Statland of Riveting Women about the importance of having more women in local and state political positions and to Maryland Delegate Vaughn Stewart and UMBC History Professor Andrew Nolan about a moment in time when protections against the tyranny of the majority, including the...

In June 2022, Carroll County Board of Education (in Maryland) banned Pride flags from schools. Carroll is a conservative jurisdiction whose changing demographics have put it at the forefront of the culture war over education policy. Sunil Dasgupta speaks with county resident Stephanie Brown, who found herself in the middle of a political fight as she sought to defend the rights of her 13-year-old...

Montgomery County Council District 5 is a newly created seat in the eastern part of the county covering Burtonsville, White Oak, and Four Corners. Sunil Dasgupta spoke with five candidates running for the seat: Planning Department employee Brian Anleu (3:45), county business liaison officer Daniel Koroma (26:46), political operative Jeremiah Pope (49:13), immigration lawyer Fatmata Barrie (1:10:40...

In this episode, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Montgomery County Council District 2 candidates community activist Lorna Forde (4:28) and former Jamie Raskin-staffer Will Roberts (23:46). A belated addition is former Maryland delegate Al Carr (52:32) who is now running for Council District 4. Look back in the archives for interviews with other D2 and D4 candidates: Marilyn Balcombe, Kate Stewart, Amy G...

The Montgomery County Council is expanding to 7 members elected from demarcated districts and keeping 4 members who are elected countywide or at-large. In this episode Sunil Dasgupta talks with four at-large candidates, former Gaithersburg city council member Laurie-Anne Sayles (4:27), past council president Tom Hucker (26:27), Montgomery County Democratic Party leader Scott Goldberg (52:51), and...